Science teacher Gary Jacobson plans on retiring at the end of this school year. This is Jacobson’s 35th year teaching for Maize. He has been teaching since 1985 and started at Maize Middle School. After nine years, he transferred to Maize High School where he continued the rest of his career. 

“Maize is the only district I have taught in,” Jacobson said. “I even did my student teaching here.” 

Jacobson attended Wichita State University and majored in secondary education with an undergraduate in biology. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to incorporate science into his career, but he never thought of teaching as a possibility until later in college. 

“I worked in a lab for about three years after I first got out of school,” Jacobson said. “It was a low paying job without any room for growth doing the same thing every day, so I returned to school and earned a teaching certificate. I found I liked teaching even more than I thought I would.”

Jacobson has taught a variety of science classes including biology, Freshman General Science and zoology. While he loves educating his students on the importance of science, he also enjoys the time when he was able to coach Science Olympiad. An organization that encourages students in STEM career paths and hosts tournaments. His favorite memory during his career was coaching Science Olympiad. 

 “There are many [favorite memories] but the years the Science Olympiad team won the state tournament qualifying them to travel and compete at the national tournament seven years in a row [was my favorite],” Jacobson said.

Traveling and pursuing his favorite hobbies are at the top of his retirement list. 

“My plans for retirement are to travel, play a little tennis and golf, dabble in woodworking, stay up late and sleep late,” Jacobson said.

While his retirement will be spent relaxing, he will still miss doing what he loves–teaching. 

 “I just kind of enjoy sharing what I know,” Jacobson said. “I will miss contact with colleagues and especially my students.”